


House of Lies AU - Waking Nightmare

by Imjustadaydreamerr



Category: House of Lies
Genre: AU, Angst, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Sabrina Whateverman - Freeform, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:15:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26281771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imjustadaydreamerr/pseuds/Imjustadaydreamerr
Summary: Clyde goes through a hard time and is thankful to have some support.
Relationships: Clyde Oberholt/Sabrina Whateverman
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	House of Lies AU - Waking Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing having to do with this show other than my AU character and my ideas.  
> About this AU: I use my AU character as a way to hang out in the House of Lies universe.  
> Time Frame: S4E11 (Plot spoilers ahead)  
> Pairing: Clyde Oberholt x Sabrina Whateverman

A confused Clyde entered the office in a daze with heavy shoulders and a skittishness about his demeanor.

“Hey, hey. You’re back. How’d things go with your dad?” Doug badgered, abandoning his exchange with Sabrina.

“He died.” Vivid scenes from that morning reappeared before empty eyes.

“You’re joking. You’re not joking. Oh, my God, I’m so sorry, Clyde. I… Well, hey, at least on the upside…” 

“Uh, no, that’s actually what killed him. I went loose on him, and… he had a heart attack.” The mingled scents of the coffee shop echoed within his nostrils as he found himself experiencing the shock once more.

“Uh-huh… I think I know where this is headed. Because I pushed you into talking with him, somehow this is on me. Uh-uh. No. I-I just said to have a chat.” Doug wagged his finger. 

Clyde turned and walked away from the conversation. 

Doug called out to his friend fruitlessly. “So he kills his father, and I’m the bad guy.” He shook his head, clearly so inconvenienced.

“Are you insane?” Sabrina shook her head and pursued Clyde. 

She approached his desk while he shuffled through papers like his life depended on it and typed rapidly on his computer. “Do you want me to take some work off your hands?” 

“No! I mean, no, thank you. I need to stay busy. I appreciate it, but the last thing I need right now is downtime.” He stretched his fingers while she afforded a curious glance his way.

She looked directly into his eyes. “Okay. But seriously, you have my number.” Reaching across the desk, she clasped one of his hands between both of hers. “This isn’t something you can just set aside. Take all the space you need, but please know that you don’t have to deal with this alone.”

“Um, thanks.” He looked at her briefly before looking again at his computer screen. “I’ll try to keep that in mind. You know, I really just have so much work I need to get to.”

With a gentle squeeze, she released his hand. “I will let you get to it. So, catch you later, then.” She eyed him once more before stepping out the door.

“See you, Whateverman.” He dove back into the mountain of work.

**——-**

Her phone rang at around eight o’clock that evening.

“Hello?”

“Is this Sabrina?” A tentative male voice wavered.

“It is. This is also Clyde, yes?” 

“Yeah… Hey, I kind of ended up finishing everything I had to do for work. How do you feel about staying over for the evening?” His nervous fidgeting picked up its pace.

“Do you want anything while I’m out?” 

“No. I just want to watch something or talk or… anything to keep my mind off of this morning.” 

“I’ll be over soon.” 

“Thanks.” He exhaled with relief.

“Any time.” She started gathering a few things.

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

**——-**

“Hey,” Sabrina said.

“Come in.” He stepped aside to let her into his apartment, closing the door behind her.

When they sat down on his couch, she set her bags to the side and turned to face him. “So, how are you doing?” 

“I’ve been better. I don’t even know, man…”

She noticed how red and worn-out his eyes had become. “You look very tired.” 

“I am. But I can’t go to bed yet. I’m too wound up. I can’t.” He rubbed his palms together while looking straight ahead, swept up in something invisible to her.

She gently tapped his arm. “Do you want to watch some TV?” 

He flinched slightly, but responded. “Sure. Whatever you want.” Handing her the remote, he leaned back on the soft cushions.

“I’ll find something.” She went with a nice generic sitcom after swapping the channels a few times.

She took out a blanket from one of her bags and pulled it over herself before tossing a section to him. He covered himself and focused on the screen. 

She struggled to keep her eyes open after several episodes. 

His tired muscles burnt as he stood up to stretch. “I think I’m finally going to turn in.” He yawned.

“Okay. Wake me up if you need anything. Good night.” She turned off the TV and got ready to fall asleep.

“Good night.” He tended to a few things and settled into his bedroom for the evening. 

**——-**

He gasped for air and tossed away the covers as he emerged from one of a series of nightmares, drenched in sweat. Clyde groaned and paced into his bathroom.

Eventually gathering his thoughts, he rinsed his face with cold water before walking into the living room.

“Hey. Did you get any sleep?” Sabrina sat up from under her blanket.

He sat on the opposite end of the couch, looking down at his hands as one leg bounced on an arched foot. “Yeah." 

"You still look exhausted. Do you need anything?" 

His fingers grew restless, tapping on the arm of the couch. "Well…" 

"What is it?" 

"Never mind.” He shrugged, shaking his head.

“Go for it.”

He hand-combed his hair and avoided her eyes. “I was wondering if you would maybe… sleep in my room?" 

"Yeah, I’ll be right in." 

"Thanks.” He got up and returned to his room in the hopes of better dreams.

**——-**

When Sabrina awakened, the bedroom was still dark.

Unintelligible distressed sounds flowed from Clyde’s lips, his breath quickening as he attempted to move his limbs, to no avail. 

“Wake up.” She shook his arm a few times. “Come on, man. Wake up.”

Inhaling sharply, he sat up and curled inward with his knees to his chest. 

“Thank you.” His pounding heart failed to slow, the details of that morning on a loop in his mind. “I do a lot of sleazy shit for work, but this… Oh, God….” the consultant whispered. “How am I supposed to live with myself?” His shattered voice cracked in a hitched breath. “I didn’t mean forever.”

She stayed quiet to give him a moment for processing. 

An anguished shout left his throat, his shaken stomach lurching at his cold responses to his father’s legitimate calls for help. 

He looked at the ceiling and took in a few deep breaths. “Dad, I don’t know how this works, or if it even does. But if you can hear me… I want you to know that even with everything you did, I never wanted this for you. I hope you can forgive me.” Collapsing once more, he convulsed as he wept uncontrollably.

She set a hand on his knee to get his attention. “He had to have known you would never mean to hurt him." 

"Would he? The last thing I said to him was how awful he was.” He looked off into nowhere. 

She thought for a few seconds. “It wasn’t your fault he lied so often that you thought he was doing it again when something was actually wrong. But I’m really sorry everything happened that way. It wasn’t what either of you deserved." 

"All I can think about is what I could’ve done to save him if I hadn’t been so fucking stubborn.” He rested his head against his knees.

“Of course you wish you could’ve saved him. He’s family and you love him.” She placed a cautious hand on his nearest arm.

He looked forward and shook his head in opposition. “I don’t think he’ll ever know that.”

She ran her hand gently up and down his back. “You tolerated his cat, let him make himself at home at your place, and did everything you could to bond with him when you thought he was sick. There was no way he could have missed the fact that you cared about him." 

"You know, he said the reason he lied about being sick was that he didn’t think I’d want to see him otherwise, so…I guess I’m kind of responsible on that front, too.” He laughed bitterly at the memory.

“That was completely his decision.” She wondered what else his father had guilt-tripped him for.

"And yet, here we are.” He retreated further into himself and pulled his arms around his head.

She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his torso.

After twisting to return the embrace, he relaxed somewhat while pondering in silence. 

“I really don’t want to lie back down tonight.” He shifted his gaze from her to elsewhere and back. “Would you stay up with me? If you don’t mind…”

“I don’t mind at all.” She kneaded at the rigid muscles on his neck.

“Thank you.” He rested his eyes as he leaned his head on her shoulder blade and tiredly muttered, “I love you.” Bunching up his eyebrows, he quickly amended the statement. “….man.”

She swept a few stray strands of his hair into place. “I love you too…man.” 


End file.
